A new free booklet has been
released by Historic Scotland celebrating our built cinema heritage
In
living memory a common feature in Scotland’s towns and cities, cinemas
are now an increasingly rare part of our streetscapes. Constructed in a
variety of engaging and exuberant styles, they add much to our
country’s rich built heritage.
In 2007–08 Historic Scotland undertook a thematic study of Scotland’s
historic cinema buildings in conjunction with the Cinema Theatre Association,
and this new booklet traces their history and development from the
earliest times to the present day Press
release here.PDF
download of the entire booklet here

The Corn Exchange in Biggar is to benefit from Town Centre Regeneration funding - details here.

The Cameo, Edinburgh has launched a refurbishment fund-raising scheme - details in Evening News here, and a more recent article here.
One of the Cameo's small modern screens was closed due to a mystery
stench, which was eventually traced to a broken cast-iron pipe in the
wall of the adjacent tenement. The screen has now reopened after repairs were made.

The bid to secure Town Centre Regeneration funding to purchase & help restore B-listed Glasgow Bridgeton Olympia theatre as a community venue of some kind has been successfull, being awarded £1.95M. Details here.

Perth's 7-screen Playhouse cinema, formerly a Caledonian Cinemas venue, is now being run by Glasgow-based G1 Group, who also own the two-screen Glasgow Grosvenor cinema.
The Playhouse, a Category B listed building, opened in 1933 to designs
by Alex Cattenach Jr. There is planning permission extant to build an
extension with additional screen in a gap site to the side, and convert
the large Screen 1, the original balcony, to a restaurant.

The Edinburgh Playhouse sold by Live Nation to Ambassador Theatre Group - details.

Local press interest in the former Odeon Edinburgh remains high, with
the Edinburgh News featuring articles highlighting Historic Scotland's
report saying the building should be kept, and also interviewing DHP
developer Bruce Hare, in which he claimed the only way to safeguard the
building for the future is to demolish the auditorium. See here and here.
There is also coverage of a break in and vandalism at the site here. The
independant Reporter considering the planning application has sent his
report to the Scottish Ministers, who must now make the final decision.
A timescale for this is currently unknown.

The Scottish Civic Trust, who maintain the official Buildings at Risk
register for Scotland, have added several more cinemas to it: including
the former Cumnock Picture House, and the former Kings/ABC/Regal in
Kilmarnock, the Broadway in Prestwick, the Vogue in Girvan, and the
Orient in Ayr. Details on our Buildings at Risk page.

Two two multi-purpose developments have been announced for Glasgow -
one at Glasgow Harbour, and another at the former railway yards at
Cowlairs. Both have multiplex cinemas mooted as part of the plans,
although neither have specific operators attached as yet, so it will be
interesting to see if they ever materialise. Similar developments at
Silverburn on Glasgow's south side, and Glasgow Fort at Easterhouse
both had cinemas announced as part of the original plans, yet neither
materialised. Details here.

Glasgow Theatre Royal
owners Scottish Opera is planning for a potential £8.5 million upgrade
of the theatre's foyer spaces. It has bought a small piece of land
adjacent to its current cramped foyers which could allow for them to be
rebuilt and expanded, subject to funding availability. Details here.

As part of the Shetland Film Festival, a bus stop was converted into a 2-seat cinema, according to BBC News. The opening night was a sell-out.

BBC 4 program Time Shift's documentary on the Golden Age of Liners featured scenes filmed in the B-listed former Rex in Stonehouse,
Lanarkshire. The entire interior of the Rex was taken from the liner
Homeric when it was broken up. Other parts of the fixtures and fittings
from the ship were used in the Regal in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, although that building is far less intact than the Rex.

27/8/09
A new image of the restored frontage of the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall
in Glasgow has been added, with details about the restoration work,
thanks to Euan Adamson & the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Trust.

26/8/09A new gallery of interior pictures of the Rex, Lockerbie has been added, thanks
to Murray Thomson and Sam Hayward.Better images inside and out of the Playhouse in Galashiels are now online, thanks
to manager Andrew Poole.

New pages for Biggar, Coalburn, Kilsyth and Lochmaben, plus interior shots of
the Town Halls in Airdrie and Darvel have been added, thanks to
Harry Rigby. He's also kindly provided images of the inside and outside
of the former Cinema, Glenboig.Quick news roundup:

New Historic Scotland book on post-war architecture: 'Scotland -
Building the Future' - is a free PDF download http://bit.ly/2maKhT

Evening Times feature on Glasgow Film Theatre
history & Doors Open Day events - 'A trip to the stars' http://bit.ly/DPtvH (The ET also
incorrectly claims the GFT is the city's oldest remaining cinema,
forgetting about the Grosvenor, which opened 18 years earlier!)

17/6/09
An image of the frontage of the Coliseum,
hidden behind metal cladding for 30+ years and very briefly revealed
during the demolition works, has been added thanks to Steven Parkes.

The BBC News website has a feature on the possible re-birth of the
Leith Theatre here.
15/6/09
The demolition of the Glasgow Coliseum
is now all but complete; a gallery of demolition images can be found here.
The cinema has therefore been moved into the Demolished section of the Glasgow Cinemas index.
Today's Evening Times features
a piece on the demolition and history of the building,
including quotes from ScottishCinemas.org.

Further coverage of the Edinburgh Odeon call-in decision was in the
Scotsman here,
the Evening News here,
and was also featured on Forth FM. The actual official 'call-in'
notification from Historic Scotland to the council can be seen on the
council planning website here.

The
Guardian newspaper is asking for comments and votes on people's
favourite cinemas for a forthcoming series of articles - more details here.

The former Miner's Welfare Hall / Randolph cinema in Stirling has been
demolished, according to information from Murray Thomson.

The Evening Times reports
that one of a number of Townscape regeneration bids involves purchasing
the former Olympia
in Bridgeton for use as a sporting or events venue.

A new campaign to return cinema to the town of Paisley has sprung up -
details on the Paisley Film Society website here.
3/6/09
Historic Scotland has announced that the planning application to
demolish the auditorium of the former Odeon Edinburgh
has been 'called in' for determination by the Scottish Ministers. This
is a highly unusual step that is only taken for less than a handful of
listed building planning applications each year. The statement from
Historic Scotland is here,
and there is coverage of the call-in on the BBC News website here.

Planning permission has been granted for the conversion of the former
Birks cinema, Aberfeldy,
from a derelict amusement arcade to a cafe bar and single-screen
cinema. The plan is being mooted by the 'Friends of the Birks', who are
hoping to see cinema return to the town. The AGM of the Friends is on
Thursday; details here.

South Ayrshire Council have started the process of looking for tenders
for new owners for the Gaiety
Theatre in the Ayr. Details here.

The demolition of the Glasgow Coliseum continues, with most of the
stage end now gone. Updated gallery of pictures here.

28/5/09
Glasgow's former Coliseum
/ Cinerama
theatre suffered a serious fire in the early hours of Monday 25th May,
after which the roof is all but gone, the top of the tower has
collapsed, and the side walls are bulging. The future for the building
does not look good at this point.
Gallery of post-fire images here,
plus press coverage on the BBC News website here,
the Evening Times here,
here
and here,
and the Scotsman here.
The Urban Glasgow forum has some images looking into the fire-ravaged
building here.
As of this afternoon, some demolition work had started at the former
stage end of the building (pictured above).

Demolition works at the Grange, Stevenston
are due to start within the next few weeks.

The former Roxy in Kelso
is now an Italian restaurant; the website for it is here.

Thanks to David Baker, Stephen Elliot, Neil Darlington, David Low,
& Andy Wilson, for other information and updates.

14/3/09
The Scotsman has run a piece on an open
letter calling on Historic Scotland to call the Edinburgh Odeon
planning application in for a public enquiry; details here,
and a follow up selection of reader letters on the subject can be seen here.
Other Press Coverage includes Trainspotting star Ewan Bremner
supporting the campaign here
and here
and the EdinburghGuide.com here.
The online
petition is up to 4191 signatures. Coverage of the Historic
Scotland booklet on cinemas is here
and here.

The Glasgow Film Theatre
is celebrating its 70th birthday on May 10th; they're looking for votes
as to a film from 1939 (when it first opened as the Cosmo), and from
1974 (when it became the GFT) to show at its birthday bash. You can
vote here.
(Voting closes May 1st).

There's a film showing of Slumdog Millionaire on May 3rd at 2.30pm at
the refurbished Alhambra
Dunfermline theatre - a chance to see a film in this building that was
a cinema for most of its life. Details on the Alhambra website here.
The same website also has a great gallery of up to date interior images
here.

Coverage of the re-opening of the Bo'Ness Hippodrome can be found in
The Times here,
and the BBC News website here,
plus some video of the interior then and now here.
The Hippodrome film program is online on their official website at www.falkirk.gov.uk/hippodrome

31/3/09
The petition to try to save the former New
Victoria/Odeon
in Edinburgh now has over 2,300 signatures, having been running for
less than a week. Some coverage in the Edinburgh Evening News here.

29/3/09
Britannia
Panopticon Music Hall - Fundraiser at Oran Mor

Music
Hall Memories Goes West – Gala Night
Sunday 29th March from 7.30pm
(Booking hotline: 0870 013 5464)
Location: Oran Mor, Corner of Byres Road and Gt Western Road
The celebration of the Panopticon’s
immense history of Comedy as the oldest music hall will continue with a
fundraising Gala Show in Oran Mor on 29th March. This show marks the
end
of Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival and
celebrates the history of music hall with a 3 course dinner and 3
courses of entertainment.

25/3/09
A petition has been launched to try to save the former New Victoria/Odeon
in Edinburgh.
Details on the GoPetition website here.

16/3/09

Some new interior images of the Britannia
Panopticon, on
the occasion of Tony Roper unveiling a collection of theatre images,
have been added; images thanks to Jenny Bann.

In addition, we have a new gallery of some stunning interiors of the Cameo, Edinburgh
on its 60th Birthday weekend.

Better old postcard images of the Odeon, Ayr
have been added, thanks to Kevin Phelan.

Thanks to Bill Mather, former owner of the WMR (George) in Irvine,
we have some great photos of that cinema in 1983 and the re-opening
night programme, plus exterior and interiors of the Classic (Cranston's de Luxe)
in Renfield Street, Glasgow.

More stunning images from 'dusashenka' - be sure to visit his Flickr
page to see the original high-resolution versions of all
of these great images.

14/3/09
Steven Elliott has kindly provided us with a gallery of recent images
of the interior of the Grange in Stevenston,
which has closed to bingo and is shortly to be demolished.

More up-to-date images of the mostly-demolished B-listed La Scala
in Hamilton are also up, thanks to Murray Thomson and Sam Hayward. The
foyer block is all that's left, and most of that is now open to the
elements...

Thanks to George Millar, we have two fantastic posters advertising
shows at the Regal, Macduff,
and the Picture House, Banff.

Rare archive images of the interior of the Palace,
Aberdeen, have been added, many thanks to Alan Rennie [via Jim Brooks].

Interiors of the C-listed Savoy, Cambuslang
have been added, just before it is due to be converted to a
Wetherspoons bar. Many thanks to Chris Bradley for the images.

A recent colour image of the La Scala Dunoon
has been added, thanks to Sam Haward.

The Hippodrome in Bo'Ness
is due to re-open as a cinema at the start of April; details on the BBC
News website here,
and the Press and Journal here.

The bingo in the former Picture House in Cumnock has closed,
and the building is up for sale; the sales
particulars say it is in a poor state, and likely to be
demolished.

The Paisley Daily Express has a write-up about the Regal
demolition here.

A new website, Scotland's
Images,
brings together pictures from a variety of national collections. A new
partnership between Scottish Screen and Glasgow Museums has resulted in
the launch of the Reel
Lives website.

The Scotsman has a nice long article on the Britannia Panopticon
Music Hall in Glasgow, and its latest fund-raising efforts, here.

An ongoing project to record all of the films shown at the Edinburgh
Odeon/New Victoria is now online here.

The former Strond cinema in Orkney
is now an Arts Centre; details on its website here.

An options appraisal study to determine new uses for the former Leith
Theatre is to be carried out, according to EdinburghArchitecture.

The 1914 B-listed former Lyric in Ardrossan
is covered in scaffolding, as its auditorium is to be demolished and
the facade retained as the building is converted to flats. Details here.

A picture of the staff of the former Cinema de Luxe in Denny in 1969 can be
seen on the Falkirk Herald site here.

The former Parade
in Dennistoun would appear to be in a precarious state, going by these flickr
images.

The Perthshire Advertiser reports
that the former Picture House in Blairgowrie
is to be demolished for flats; although the article seems to suggest
the frontage will be kept, the planning application online here
seems to show the whole site being cleared.

The Edinburgh Evening News reports that plans to extend the stage and
rehearsal space of the Festival
Theatre are set to go ahead; details here
and here.

The
recent Glasgow Film Festival highlighted some of Glasgow's old cinemas
by showing short films and clips in or on them; details here
and reported on here.

The
database and other pages have been updated, thanks to new info from
David Thom, Pete Naples, Robert Clark, Ian Grant, Trevor Griffiths,
Mervyn Gould and others.

6/3/09
A gallery of photos of the demolition of the former Regal, Paisley
can be seen on Flickr here,
thanks to HistoricalPaisley. Some other images showing the demolition
work even further along are also on PaisleyPicture's Flickr page here.

Cameo
celebrates 60 years [and 95 years!]

The
weekend of 7/8 March 2008 will see Edinburgh's favourite cinema marking
60 years since it opened as the Cameo (and 95 years as a cinema). To
celebrate, on Saturday 7 March it will screen classic silent double
bill featuring Buster Keaton, featuring live piano accompaniment. On
the Sunday, an archive print of LA SYMPHONIE PASTORALE will be screened
which was the very first film shown at the opening of The Cameo in
1949. The screening will be preceded by some interesting Cameo-related
archive material onscreen, and a display of photos and cuttings about
the cinema will be on display in the bar and foyer.

14/01/09
The plans for the gutting of the auditorium of the Edinburgh Odeon to
convert it into a boutique hotel were passed by the local council
(planning report here);
however the final OK has yet to be given by Historic
Scotland.
While HS legally have 28 days from the date of the council decision to
decide if they want to do this, they wrote to the council just before
Christmas to request extra time to make their determination, and to
ensure that no binding decision is issued prior to that happening.
Coverage in the Evening News here.

In related news, the plans to demolish most of the Glasgow Odeon
and replace the auditorium with an eight-storey glass office block are
now officially on hold thanks to the credit crunch; this may also have
implications for the Edinburgh redevelopment plans, as the same company
- Duddingston House Properties - is behind both schemes. Details on the
Architecture Scotland website here.

A fire in October damaged the former State
cinema in Leith; this is currently empty awaiting conversion to flats
behind a retained facade. The fire in the foyer block does not appear
to have caused too much damage, as far as can be seen from an external
inspection. Details in the Evening
News.

A
revised version of Historic Scotland’s new Scottish Historic
Environment Policy - incorporating guidance on listed buildings and
listed building consent - can be seen online here.

The nightclub Jumpin Jaks, which is in the upper half of the former Capitol
cinema in Union Street, Aberdeen, has closed. The Chicago Rock pub in
the former stalls and screen area is still open, but the former cinema
cafe area is also now empty. Photos from urban explorers
show that
some of the original light fittings are now smashed, and that the roof
is apparently in poor condition and may be leaking already.

News
reports suggest that a new 10 screen multiplex cinema, operated by Vue,
will be part of expansion work scheduled to take place at Glasgow’s
Buchanan Galleries shopping centre. Work is scheduled to start in 2010.
Details here
and here.

Cromarty
Film Festival organisers held a showing of the film ‘The Maggie’ on a
ferry between Cromarty and Nigg, according to the BBC News website.

Plans are set to be lodged to establish a temporary cinema in Fort William
– as a precursor to the potential re-opening of the town's picture
house at Cameron Square, which closed suddenly in September 2006.
Details here.

A selection of archive photos of Falkirk cinemas can be seen on the
local council website here.
Thanks to Joanne Hynd for the link.

Redevelopment of the site of the former Palace in Burntisland is
going ahead, according to this
report. No word yet on possible re-use of the stained glass windows
rescued from the building prior to demolition.

The Perthshire Advertiser reports
that plans for a large multi-use site on the outskirts of Perth could
include a multiplex cinema. This would obviously impact on the 9-screen
Playhouse
in the centre of town.

Demolition work has started at the unlisted former Regal in
Paisley (CJ McNair, 1934). Michael Fediginan has a gallery of pictures
monitoring the building here.

The Evening Times reports
that there was panic when a snake was reported to be loose in Glasgow’s
CineWorld.

The Gaiety Theatre
in Ayr is to close in January 2009 while the local council decides what
to do with it, and whether it can afford the funds to refurbish it.
This is despite an offer by the owners of the Glasgow Pavilion to take
over the running of the theatre as a going concern. The Theatres Trust
have expressed concern. Details in The
Herald.

Some
of the most remote parts of Scotland will benefit from investment in
cinema screening facilities. Eight venues will share more than £200,000
from Scottish Screen to install digital projection equipment.
These include new cinemas for the village of Langholm, and Isle of
Whithorn, as well as new equipment for the Newton Stewart
cinema, Robert Burns Centre Dumfries,
Highland Theatre, Oban
and the cinema in Fort
William. Details in The
Times.

A local youth group are campaigning
for a new cinema to be built on a brownfield site near the centre of Cumbernauld.
The original Cumbernauld cinema, built in 1978 as a two screen cinema,
and a condition of planning for the bingo hall next door, remains
closed and mothballed, having shut in the early 1980s.

The former 2-screen Allanpark
cinema in Stirling could be converted for church use, under plans
submitted
by the Destiny Church group. The Allanpark opened in 1938, and was
divided with bingo in the former stalls, and a two screen cinema in the
former balcony in 1977. The cinema closed earlier in 2008, when a new
Vue multiplex opened elsewhere in the city. The Destiny Group owns two
former cinemas in Edinburgh - the former New Tivoli
in Edinburgh, and the Central
in Leith.

The Stornoway Gazette had a behind the scenes feature at the An
Lanntair cinema here.

Plans are well advanced to test using Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre
as a venue for red-carpet premieres for the Edinburgh Film Festival.
The Festival has been without a suitable venue since the Clerk Street
Odeon closed. Details here.

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